Best Laid Plans
by Z.A.G
Summary: The best plan Robin could come up with was to drag Raven out into the middle of the desert and things just keep getting worse and worse. Who ever knew someone who worked under the greatest detective in the world could be so... dumb. One-Shot.


**Best Laid Plans**

The things that were happening lately were unsettling for her. Robin had changed. On all outward actions and appearances Robin was still the same as he always had been but she could sense it, _feel _, that something about Robin had changed. She hadn't thought much on it to begin with. She simply ignored the slight change and noted it as just a temporary thing. Much like his bouts when Slade is around he would change completely but would eventually revert back to the leader she is familiar with.

The change wasn't extraordinary and she doubted that any of the other members of the Titans had actually noticed the change for one of two reasons. One, Robin was excellent at maintaining a mask (in this sense figuratively) to assure to the rest of the members that nothing was different about him. Secondly, the change had less to do with the rest of the team and more to do with _her_.

It took her at least a month to start picking up on the small change in the dynamics of their friendship. Robin had always respected her privacy and had very often _not_ intruded on her time at any point unless it was for something important. They didn't often share small talk unless it was evident that she wasn't busy with her own things. They had a mutual understanding in their relationship as they both liked their privacy and enjoyed the silences that were often between them: him with his newspaper and cup of coffee, her with a book and a cup of tea.

It had been subtle at first. He started making light greetings toward her even if she were reading a book. She would give a quiet acknowledgment and that would be the end of it. That had gone on for a week and a half. She hadn't thought anything of it. Then he started light conversation every few days despite whether or not she were reading something or meditating or simply not giving off the 'it's okay to talk to me' vibe. It had gone on for three weeks with the conversations happening steadily more frequent and longer. It was at the end of the month that she finally realized that the dynamics between them were all wrong and something had changed ever so subtly.

That's when she started paying more attention and finally came to the conclusion that either Robin had changed in some way or he was not Robin but some sort of puppet trying to imitate their leader (the latter being a creation of her overactive paranoia on the matter).

She didn't voice her observations to the rest of the team or to Robin himself. She simply went with it and tried to adjust to the new dynamics. Had it been anyone else that intruded on her privacy and private time she'd blow up on them and tell them in a not too subtly fashion to 'buzz off'. Or in Beastboy's case, be thrown out the window.

Robin; however, she simply would place her bookmark in place, put her book down and listen. The conversations were mostly one-sided as Robin seemed to carry them along more then she did. She'd only add comments where necessary or appropriate before he continued on. Anyone who knew Robin would expect these conversations to be work related, but the strange thing is (and this being the reason why she feels somewhat that he IS some imitation of the real Robin) that a lot of the conversations he's been having with her had nothing to do with crime fighting or cases in general.

The first conversation had been rather awkward for her; as she wasn't expecting him to start a conversation to begin with and when he did, she had expected it to be team related:

"_Are you listening?"_

"_Excuse me?" Raven looked up from her book in surprise to find that Robin was standing in front of the couch staring at her._

"_Good. As I was saying, I got around to reading Dean Koontz's Frankenstein. Noticed you had a copy of it last month and finally gave it a try. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting."_

_Raven continued to simply stare at her leader, book forgotten._

"_Was going to ask if you had the other books but I ended up buying them myself. So if you don't have copies, I do." And then he walked toward the kitchen._

It had been so unsettling to hear him just come out and talk about things in general. Sometimes he would actually wait until he gathered her attention before he started speaking. This involved a whole lot of staring in her direction until she gets annoyed enough to finally look over at him and ask what he wanted. But after she realized that something had changed between them, she eventually just started automatically closing her book after finishing up a chapter or passage and give him her undivided attention until he fulfilled whatever he wanted in those conversations.

It has been a few months since he had changed slightly and this is what she was looking over in her mind as she was sitting in the front seat of the T-Car with Robin at the wheel. No other member was with them…

Strange?

What is even stranger to her was their destination: the Nevada Desert. How had this happened exactly? Why were they headed to the middle of nowhere aside to get sun poisoning and essentially burn to a crisp? Well it all happened that morning.

"_Raven!" His voice carried the urgency it always did when there was an emergency. She immediately dropped out of her meditation and turned to him. "We have a mission, we're going to the Nevada Desert."_

"_Is there a problem?" Her voice remained neutral as she took note of the lack of other members with him. Where was everyone anyway?_

"_Just need to do some recon but I don't want to leave Jump completely unguarded so Cyborg, Beastboy, and Starfire are going to man the fort."_

_Her expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, "Why not bring someone else?"_

_He gave her a strange look at that question, "Do YOU see either Beastboy or Starfire being much help when it comes to anything recon related?"_

"…_."_

"_Me neither."_

"_What about Cy?"_

"_Well, I don't trust leaving you with Beastboy and expect to come back with him still intact. It makes more sense to leave Cyborg at Jump. I don't expect trouble with this mission though; we should be done before you know it. Just think of it as a summer drive."_

"_Yippee for long car rides…" Flat-voiced and a resistance to roll her eyes followed. _

They had hit the desert at around one in the afternoon the following day. The T-Car was capable of going fast but due to the fact that they weren't heading toward some sort of emergency, Robin insisted on following the rules of the road. This meant the speed limit, which meant it was taking longer then it should, which meant she was stuck in a car ride with nothing to do other than stare out in the vast nothingness that they passed.

'_Thank you Boy Blunder for this stupid trip.'_ Raven thought absentmindedly as she tried to ignore the heat. Oh yeah, the air conditioning in the T-Car is apparently busted. A fact that Cyborg neglected to inform Robin on before they had left. She had her hood down as a means to cool off and all the windows were opened wide. A quick glance to the driver showed a heavy set of sweat stains around his armpits and his brow was shimmering with the perspiration that formed on it. There are several empty water bottles in the seats behind them.

"Wonder how hot it is today." He absently wondered.

She didn't wonder. In fact, she didn't want to know nor did she want to think about it. _'As hot as the surface of the burning sun… We're going to melt Boy Blunder.'_ She thought but didn't say it aloud. She's far too hot to grace him with her sarcasm at the moment.

"What exactly, are we looking for?" She had asked him this very question before they had left the tower and he had given her a vague response then.

"We're on a mission." He answers to her everlasting annoyance.

"I gathered Boy Blunder, I want to know what it involves."

"Recon."

"Oh well, that clears up all my questions."

"Don't worry so much Rae. Trust me."

Her eyes narrow as she shoots him a glare. Mentally she goes through her mantra to push back Anger. It's far too hot for her to deal with the vague responses. Just when she thinks she'll have to comment further to get more information out of him, he starts speaking.

"Look Raven, we've known each other for quite awhile now and—"

"Robin, if you have driven all the way out here in need of a private place to discuss your relationship with Starfire, I will make it my personal mission the next couple of weeks to insure you have the worst nightmares imaginable." She states, cutting him off.

"What?" He turns his gaze away from the road to look at her in shock, "No. No, that's not it at all! What gave you that idea?"

"Couldn't be the lack of detail I'm getting on this 'mission'. This is the first time that any of us aren't giving information aside from your half assed attempts to do things yourself." Clearly she isn't happy at the moment with the current predicaments. "Now if you would so kindly tell me where _exactly_ you are dragging me off to—"

"Oh look, we're here." He suddenly states with a sudden stop of the T-Car, swiftly he gets out of the car.

Raven groans and steps out of the car as well. She looks around the vast land of nothingness. There isn't a soul around, not a building, not any wildlife, there isn't even a cactus within a mile radius to their current position. "You are either suffering from the heat and seeing a mirage or you have simply gone crazy."

"Don't be like that Raven." He responds from the trunk of the T-Car.

"Robin, there's _NOTHING_ here!"

"I know, its great."

Raven's mouth hangs partially open as she processes that comment. It takes her a good five seconds before she can speak again, "Great? Yes… Because I came all the way out here in a car with no air-conditioning to find absolutely nothing."

"I'm surprised you're hot at all."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

His voice, while having to go through the trunk, is still clear, "Nothing really except that you're in a leotard. You could ditch the cloak and would probably be fine. It's not like I would mind," At this Raven has to fight back a blush, "Me on the other hand, has the misfortune of having full body tights as a uniform."

"If you weren't my leader, I'd toss you in another dimension…"

"Good thing I am." He shuts the trunk and holds up a cooler and a beach umbrella. "Hungry?"

"Where did you get that?"

"The trunk." He states the obvious.

"I mean, why is it in the trunk."

"Because I put it in there. I packed this stuff thinking at some point we'd get hungry. And since it's the desert, I figured some shade would be nice."

"You…" She has trouble finding the proper words to place her current displeasure, "Why are we here?"

"I was telling you that before you threatened me in the car. Now I'll tell you after we eat." He states before heading away from the car. Raven contemplates just taking the car and driving off without him. The fact that he has the keys in his possession takes that idea away however.

She doesn't even offer to use her powers to help carry the luggage. This whole mess is his fault to begin with so she let him carry the weight until he found a place that seems good enough in his eyes to 'make camp'. He attempts to stick the umbrella in the ground but the hard dry unforgiving earth doesn't yield to his demands. Not wanting to be stuck in the direct sunlight for too long, Raven does help with this.

"Thanks." He states before plopping down on the dirt. While the umbrella does offer shade, it's not a lot and it meant having to sit next to Robin in order to gain some. She would have remained standing if the umbrella was tall enough that she'd be able to do so; however, she'd have to be hunched over to stand under it.

Robin opened the cooler and offered a bottle of water. She takes it and expected it to be cold or at the very least cool, but it feels almost as warm as the dirt she's sitting on. She rolls her eyes and puts it off to the side. She'll drink it when she's desperate enough to do so.

He picks out a bowl that has aluminum foil as a cover and opens it. It apparently had been a salad at one point; at least, that is what Raven is guessing, but the heat of the trunk apparently went straight through the cooler and wilted the lettuce and tomatoes to an unrecognizable state. "Oh no… It can't all be like this." Robin states before pulling out several other things.

_Strawberries that look to be a melted mushy mess._

_A couple of foul looking sandwiches._

_Something that looks like it could have been potato salad._

_A small container of melted chocolate that Robin didn't seem upset about finding._

A few other unidentifiable items were also pulled out and discarded.

"I can't believe it, it's all bad…"

"Did you even put ice in the cooler?" Raven asks flatly. From the look she receives, she takes that as a 'no'. "Great work Boy Blunder. Now we can starve and be burned to a crisp."

"Come on, I'm trying here."

"What?"

"What?"

"What are you 'Trying here' exactly Robin?"

"Oh forget it. This is just a mess. Leave it here, lets get back to the car."

When they get in the car it doesn't start. "This can't be happening." Robin mutters to himself before turning to the occupant of the passenger side, "I think the car's overheated…"

"I'm overheated." Raven replies and rubs her temples. She mentally goes through her mantra again.

Robin pulls out his communicator and gets into contact with Cyborg.

"Yo, Rob, where you at?"

Robin ignores the stare he gets from Raven, "Cyborg, the T-Car is broken and we're—"

"Woah woah woah. First off. You took MY car without my permission?"

"What are you talking about, we went through this." Robin started sweating, less to do with the desert heat and more to do with the heated glare coming from the other side of the car.

"Like hell. And you broke my baby?!"

"Cyborg, we didn't crash."

"We? Who else is with you? Oh I know you aren't picking up girls in my car."

"Don't be ridiculous, it's Raven and I. We had to check up on something."

"Alright, alright, whatever. We'll talk about it when we get back. Where are you?"

Robin gave him the rough estimates of their current location. "I don't even wanna ask." Cyborg can be seen shaking his head, "It'll take me some time to get out there, but you got some explaining to do when I do."

Robin shots the communicator and wipes at his brow before stepping out of the car once more. Raven quickly follows.

"So, it seems I'm not the only one who doesn't know what's going on." Raven starts offhandedly.

"Let it be, Raven." Robin says as he starts toward the umbrella.

In a short bout of frustration or anger, Raven's powers lash out and destroys the umbrella. "Great!" Robin tosses his hands up in the air, "See? This is why we're out here."

"Excuse me?" Her tone is dangerous.

Robin crosses his arms over his chest and taps his foot, looking to be a very impatient authority figure, "Anytime you _feel _something, these things happen. I wanted to help you try and find a way to control that."

"You dragged me out in the middle of the desert to help me _control_ my emotions?" Her power was fluctuating around her, "I already had control of my emotions Robin, I didn't need you to 'help'"

"That's not what I mean. I don't want you to control your emotions, I want you to control your power."

"My emotions are what give me my powers, you idiot!"

"Raven, calm down."

With a large amount of effort, she manages to pull her power back in, and gain control of her emotions. She pulls her hood up, a habit of hers when she's grown annoyed by something or someone.

Robin rubs at his temples, "This did not work out the way I pictured it." He grumbles.

"Clearly." Raven responds flatly, "Next time you have a bird brain idea, run it by one of us so we can tell you how stupid it is."

"Look I'm sorry, Rae."

"Don't call me that. And you wouldn't have to be sorry if you had thought this idea through."

"I did think it through."

Raven made a motion with one hand, indicating to the car, "And what did you hope to accomplish by bringing me out in the middle of a desert. Did you think some food offering would make my reaction to your idea be better?"

"No that wasn't the idea. This, this just went badly from what I had planned."

Raven crossed her arms over her chest, "And _how_ did you plan on trying to help me control my powers, Boy Blunder. That's what I like to know. If the plan involved, chocolate, strawberries, salad, and whatever else that mess used to be it wouldn't have worked. That's something you bring on some date or something, not training."

Robin remains silent for a moment before reaching up to rub at his chin, "Well, that was sort of the idea."

Now she's just confused, "What was the idea?"

"A date." She feels her powers attempt to break free for a moment but she pulls them in.

"What? With who?"

"Do you see anyone around aside from us?"

"…You're joking."

"Not at all. Do you know what today's date is?"

"Does it matter?"

"This is the very same day we met. Don't you remember?"

"…. So you dragged me out here to celebrate the day we met?" By the tone of her voice, he can tell that she thinks he's stupid. "You know there's plenty of places in Jump City that you could have had a 'recon' mission and dragged me there instead. Honestly, we could have just stayed in the tower. I don't see what the big deal is."

"You don't get it." Robin looks troubled as he moves toward her.

"Apparently not." She doesn't back down and doesn't try to stop him as he pushes her hood back down. She continues to give him a flat look, as if she were able to see his eyes even behind his mask.

He seems at a loss for the next set of words he wants to share, "Look Raven. What I was saying back in the car. We've known each other for quite a long time now and—"

"Robin?"

He falters in what he's trying to say, "Yeah?"

"If that is your line in hopes of 'picking me up', it's cliché, overdone, and in poor timing do to our current predicament. In fact, if you do say what I am assuming you are about to say, I would, in no subtle way, tell you exactly where to stick your head. So don't say anything more."

"How do you know what I'm going to say?"

At that, Raven glances off to the side to look at the ruined lunch date he had attempted. A soft pink hue crossing onto her face that she mentally claims is due to the heat and not for any other particular reason, "Looking at it now, I think I can draw the obvious conclusion, Boy Blunder. So just don't say anything."

"But—"

"Don't say anything." She tries again.

"What if—"

"Don't _say _anything, Robin." She tries stressing the point.

He doesn't say anything. The gears in his brain begin to turn as he wonders if Raven is attempting to tell him something. Perhaps she is trying to signal him for something or maybe the heat is just playing tricks on his mind and its causing him to pick up signals where there is no signal to pick up.

Robin licks his lips and stares at the female in front of him. The heat has left his lips dried and chapped. In the back of his mind, despite the fact that he's beginning to believe the heat is to blame for mixed signals, he can't help but wonder 'what if?'. The usually pale skin of Raven's face has taken a light shade of pink he's never seen painted across her face. He has a feeling it's not due to the direct sunlight either. Raven's head is turned down and slightly to the side, opting to look up at him in a fashion that he, dare believe, looks timid: a quality he has never known her to have.

_If I can't say anything, what am I supposed to do?_ Robin thinks to himself.

_If I have to spell it out for you, we're not going to get anywhere, Boy Blunder._

Robin almost starts a retort back through their shared bond since both apparently have their walls down. What stops him is the wave of emotion that flares through the bond and it almost knocks him off his feet. He knew Raven can feel emotion, but he never knew how strongly she could feel them since she always keeps them locked up. She was never one for words or conversations. She rarely shared her feelings with the team and always opted to let actions speaker far clearer than anything she could tell anyone.

He reaches out with both hands. They settle on her, on at the side of her neck and the other beneath her chin before he leaned forward and tilted her mouth up to meet his. The kiss was soft, hesitant, tender, and testing. It didn't last long but long enough for both to know that it did, in fact, happen. When they split apart, Raven still looked as timid as before with the new and uncommon territory she is treading upon. Robin, for his part, simply tries not to let his face split into two from smiling too hard.

"Why of all places, did you choose a desert for this?" Raven questioned stoically.

"Well, I figured in the tower there was a chance you could destroy the whole place when I told you I'm interested in you, either out of anger or embarrassment. Out here, there's nothing for you to blow up."

"Your logic implies that my powers would not focus on you instead."

"Well, true. But nothing happened, right?"

"It's still a risk."

"So is being a Titan."

"It's an unnecessary risk."

"I'm willing to take it, are you?"

"I… don't know."

"Maybe you need more convincing?"

"I fail to see how—" He cut her off with another kiss. This time its rougher and more urgent. Robin feels his lips tug into a grin when he hears Raven moan in the back of her throat; however, they pull apart abruptly when something nearby explodes.

"So, you came out here investigating a lead on Slade?" Cyborg questioned.

"Yep." Robin stated.

"And it turns out you managed to track him down." Cyborg recaps.

"Sounds about right." Raven agrees.

"And like usual, you decide to try and take care of it then and there, rather than call for backup."

"Yeah, it was a bad call." Robin admits.

"And he's whopping both of ya, and you tried to make a get away in my car, but he chased after you. Am I right so far?"

"Sounds about right." Raven states again.

"And he decides to blow up my car while you tried to get away?"

"Yeah, we managed to fend him off afterwards and chased him off." Robin explains.

"Right, right. So let me ask you both this one question… How did both of you survive my car _exploding_ if you were in it?"

Both Robin and Raven share a glance at one another, "Uh…"


End file.
